EVENT ★ COWBOYS VS. ALIENS

[futurologists]

STATE OF THE PLANET Efforts in convincing the Qorral to stop drilling have been tentatively successful. Longterm solutions have been brought to them and, perhaps most importantly for the immediate, the fracking fields have been destroyed. The entire field has collapsed in on itself, taking mining equipment with it and creating a barren wasteland. In effect, the Qorral can no longer drill for argecite here, which means they will be leaving earlier than expected now that there is no use for the mining colony. It also means that the planet has been saved from being hollowed out completely. On the other hand, attempts at dealing with the Deemers have been a little shaky. By now, it's known that Miz Poppy is host to the Mother, the queen of this Taraxa hive. She remains elusive, slipping through the fingers of any who manage to find or capture her. Meanwhile, the infested Qorral have been dealt with in many ways: some opting for wholesale slaughter, some hoping to extract the Taraxa in the field, and some sending both extracted Taraxa and infested hosts back to Oska to be examined. As varied as the Deemer solutions have been, they have all resulted in the Deemer population being decimated. The numbers have dwindled as their camps are hunted down by ALASTAIR recruits, and attacks on the town of Perdition's Rest halt. But the Mother is still out there and free, and that's a problem . . . THE INVASION (DAY 1) In the morning, the ships come. Visible from the ground are massive spaceships in the upper atmosphere, gently drifting clouds sometimes blocking them from view. The Qorral don't recognize the ships; they're neither from their homeworld nor from any species they know, friendly or otherwise. For a few hours, the ships just hang in space like looming, silent buzzards, waiting. And then -- sparkling, metal objects start falling to the planet. It's difficult to tell what they are, as their scale is minuscule compared to the gigantic warships above, and their descent is strangely beautiful. But as the objects come closer to the surface, the details become clear: individual spacecraft. They're gleaming in gold and white metal, a triangle sigil painted on the sides, and cannons mounted on the bottom. These are Zymandis fighter craft. And they are not here to make nice. The fighter craft swoop down close and send a barrage of lasers down on Perdition's Rest, causing the local Qorral to scatter. But their fear doesn't last long: many immediately take up arms to fire back at the ships when they're low enough, including Sheriff Holladay, who shouts commands to anyone who will listen, Qorral and ALASTAIR alike: take cover, give 'em hell, and for sun's sake, don't be a hero. (Those who have been officially deputized may access the sheriff's armory, which includes all sorts of fun toys of the shooty variety.) But some Qorral have something else in mind. A small pack of locals rides out to the farm of Amos Zephyr -- and if you're suspicious enough to follow, it'll pay off. Beneath Zephyr's farm is a hidden defense platform: earth slowly moves aside as a metal platform raises up, home to mounted anti-aircraft cannons and fighter craft of their own. The Qorral fighter craft are intuitively designed, and the Qorral will also quickly give any curious ALASTAIR recruit a run-down on how to operate them. They're short-handed since so many of their number joined the Deemers, so they're very eager to allow anyone to try their hand at flying the two-man ships, which have their own mounted cannons and, of course, escape parachutes. The fighter craft are not meant for high altitudes, though, so your dreams of space travel will have to wait for another time. Those who do not wish to take flight and aren't comfortable with projectile weapons may find luck searching the desert for prey: namely, Taraxa agents attempting to flee in Zymandis escape pods. It seems as though the fighter craft are a distraction from the real goal of Zymandis helping its agents flee the planet. The Zymandis agents who are not Taraxa are variously humanoid, all equipped with laser weapons (spears, rifles, whips) that they will not hesitate to use against any who interrupt their attempts at escape. For those who aren't battle inclined, there are civilians who need to be ushered to safety, and quick repairs to weapons, equipment, horses, or even the Qorral fighter craft will be needed. This fight is going to be a long one. THE AFTERMATH (DAY 2) It's peaceful now. The Zymandis warships have fled into space with the surviving Taraxa agents in tow, the Mother presumably among them. The combined efforts of team Audentes and the Perdition's Rest colonists have successfully staved off the attack. The destruction wrought by Zymandis (and, perhaps, by overeager recruits themselves) is visible across the planet: deep fissures and scars from the laser cannons, fighter craft wreckage from both sides, burned buildings and trees, perhaps a fire still raging in the scrub grass somewhere. The Qorral aren't quite sure what that was all about, but they're more concerned with ALASTAIR's efforts in helping than in pointing fingers. Q-65 is no longer a suitable home, so the locals begin to pack up in preparation for the arrival of their homeworld's ships in the next few days. An old man puts his chess pieces away; a little girl clutches her robot pony doll, unwilling to put it in her suitcase; the stable owner and the blacksmith stand close together and talk in hushed, affectionate tones. Sheriff Holladay lets her deputies know they've served the colony well. It's bittersweet, but the Qorral always knew this settlement was never permanent. The mission complete, Audentes should expect to arrive back at Oska shortly. Use the time to say goodbye and finish up your business. Or, if you'd like, drink some of the booze that someone just found in the cellar beneath the burned-out saloon. It doesn't keep during interstellar travel, and no one will begrudge you a little celebration. OOC NOTES This log wraps up the Perdition's Rest mission! The log will last two IC days, after which characters will immediately return to Oska via dimensional rift (on 21 December in OOC time). Mission epilogue details will go up at a later date, but for now, Audentes can rest easy knowing that the mission has been a success. We will be posting an OOC post-mission assessment on 14 December so we can discuss how the mission went and talk about the state of the game in general. There is a new bounty on the Oska Bounty Board! Perdition's Rest bounties remain open until 21 December, at which point you will no longer be able to turn them in. You can also request bounty missions at any time. Please direct all questions pertaining to the mission to the dossier page to keep questions and responses in one place for easy player reference. General game questions should be directed to the FAQ. To submit a player plot or future mission idea, please go to the Suggestions post.

Comments

03

[dokyuu]

[That view of the sky gets blotted out when Motochika finds her, leaning over to peer down at her sprawled out in the dirt.]

You look like a big bird just dropped you out of the sky.

[Not that he's judging, but he is admittedly curious why she's picked this spot.]

Doin' okay?

[They're all a little worse for the wear, but she's young, and he can't help but be a little more concerned, in her case.]

[grunehexe]

[There is someone large... and familiar... blocking her view. Her choice, ship-less sky view.]

I am doing perfectly well, I shall have you know.

[So well, in fact, that she waves a sleeve uselessly in his direction.]

I am resting, as you can see.

[In the middle of town in the dirt, yes...]

[dokyuu]

You are, huh?

[He disappears from her view, only to sit down next to her in the dirt, instead.]

Yesterday was pretty wild. Don't think anyone would judge if you weren't.

[It was her business if she wanted to talk about any of it, though. He wasn't in the habit of prying things out of people. Just giving them options.]

[grunehexe]

"Wild" is one way it could be phrased.

[She'd use something like "chaotic", "madness"...

But instead she tries to take another drink, mostly just spilling it, considering doing such a thing is difficult when one is flat on one's back but.

It's the effort that counts.]

They flew through the sky and shot hot beams of light.

[dokyuu]

Hey now, at least sit up if you're gonna do that.

[That was a waste of perfectly good booze, among other things.]

Sure did. We fought 'em off, though.

[grunehexe]

I refuse to sit up. I have spent far too much time sitting up as of late.

[Mostly because she was kind of having trouble doing that sort of thing at the moment. Best to pass it off as her choice...]

Far too many things in the sky, to be sure.

[dokyuu]

That's kinda how people tend to spend most of their day, yeah.

[But arguing with drunk child logic was probably futile.]

Thought they were interesting, but we're probably better off without 'em. Kinda crazy, being up there.

[grunehexe]

[Drunk child logic is the worst of logics, so Motochika has made a wise choice.]

You flew?

[dokyuu]

Yeah, for a little while, anyway. They needed help against all those ships.

[And his overdeveloped sense of adventure wouldn't let him stay on the ground, even if that might have been safer.]

[grunehexe]

Was it easy? It looked easy...

[At least... from the ground it did, anyway...]

[dokyuu]

Wasn't too hard... when I wasn't gettin' shot at, at least. Think probably you're supposed to have two eyes to fly one of those, though.

[It had definitely proved to be a bit of a problem for him.]

[grunehexe]

Ah... depth perception... I wonder if Laedo would be able to grow you one...

[She vaguely toasted the concept, musing even though he likely wouldn't get her references.]

[dokyuu]

That the guy who was gonna do it for... uh. Evan?

[He was pretty sure he'd gotten that right... They'd only really talked much that one time, and that had been quite awhile ago, now.]

Nah... I'm pretty used to it, now.

[grunehexe]

That is right.

[The hand not holding her glass made a vague motion to mimic an eyeball shape.]

What... do you think it is fetching?

[The eyepatch, she means...]

It is somewhat rakish...

[dokyuu]

[The question makes him laugh.]

Well, I guess it doesn't hurt. Although usually I'm busy tryin' to make people afraid of me, you know?

[Pirate, and all.]

But this... It's a reminder to me of what being too sure of yourself can get you, and I don't think that's a bad thing. Besides, I'd have to adjust all over again if someone fixed it, and I manage okay how things are.

[He's vaguely aware that this might stray into somewhat touchy territory, but he felt there was a world of difference between his injury and what had been done to Sieglinde.]